In this blog we’ll look at three items; software, hardware, and BlackBerry World that come into play to ensure your BlackBerry Q10 app runs fine on the BlackBerry Q5.

First things first – your BlackBerry Q10 apps should have no problem running on a BlackBerry Q5.

From a software point of view, all apps -Cascades, HTML5, Adobe AIR ,and Android apps that are already optimized for the BlackBerry Q10 screen require no UI changes for the BlackBerry Q5.

The BlackBerry Q5 hardware is slightly different than the BlackBerry Q10 hardware – so let’s take a quick look at the similarities and differences:

Hardware Similarities:

Display : 3.1”, 720×720 resolution

Camera : 2MP front facing camera

Memory : 2Gb RAM, Hot Swappable microSD

Wi-FI: 4G mobile hotspot

Battery : BlackBerry NS1, 2100mAh, removable battery

Connectivity : microUSB, Bluetooth 4.0 , 4G LTE

GPS : Yes, with A-GPS support

Hardware Differences:

Some points to remember:

Developers should be conscious of the smaller storage and warn users if their apps are very large (like a game) or generate a lot of data that can potentially fill up the smaller storage.

Developers with apps relying on processing power may want to include a warning about the app running slower on the device.

Apps relying on NFC for critical functionality should not post a release for the device. If NFC is optional, warn users that NFC functionality will be disabled (developers should handle this gracefully) – this advice also applies to apps relying on HDMI output.

Simulator:

The Simulator you used for the Q10 is the same one for the Q5– nothing changes, no specific Q5 Simulaor.

BlackBerry World

You need to update your release bundle to add BlackBerry Q5 or add it when you post your next release bundle. Keep in mind – we are trying to notify vendors about this – so this may hold true only for app developers that do not have it set to BlackBerry Q5 right now.

Given that you have taken the above into consideration, if you are experiencing problems, please visit the support forums and look through BlackBerry Q5 related problems – and if you cannot find an answer for you problem, post a question – you’re part of a great community of developers!

Adobe® Reader Mobile SDK is a software development kit (SDK) enabling mobile device and software developers to embed PDF and eBook support into their products. This ecosystem is used worldwide by thousands of publishers, libraries and content providers selling and lending millions of eBooks.

Support comes by way of the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK (RM SDK) maintained by Datalogics. The Adobe Reader Mobile SDK is Adobe’s EPUB and PDF rendering technology for eBook apps and devices. It powers hundreds of apps and devices which act as the front end of Adobe’s end-to-end eBook ecosystem.

With the latest release of the SDK, third party companies can now build eReaders that view DRM-encoded content. If you have already licensed the RMSDK, BlackBerry PlayBook tablets and BlackBerry 10 smartphones are now automatically supported. Developers can now write apps for BlackBerry 10 and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that can easily download, manage, and display PDF content and eBooks.

Looking forward to hearing comments and suggestions from the BlackBerry dev community – let us know in the comments!